


Breaking the Glass

by Havoka



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: American Sign Language, Emily learned ASL to communicate with her HoH grandmother, F/F, Sam is functionally Deaf, They bond over it, inspired by otpprompts, not a super shippy fic but shippy enough to tag I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6134610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Havoka/pseuds/Havoka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily pushes Sam to learn ASL after the events of the game leave Sam permanently hearing impaired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking the Glass

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by OTPprompts on tumblr, this is (a slight reworking) of the prompt:
> 
> _Person A of OTP is deaf, and person B is learning sign language for them._
> 
> I really like the headcanon I've seen floating around for a while now that Sam's hearing is seriously damaged after the events on the mountain, because hell, not only was she blown out of two different buildings in big explosions, but she also had Hanndigo scream in her ear at least once (depending on your choices, I believe it can happen twice). One of the times you can see her wince in pain and the camera shakes slightly because the screech is so loud. Anyway, I also saw an unrelated post ages ago where someone had a headcanon of Emily being fluent in sign language to talk to her hard-of-hearing grandmother. So I figured, why not combine them?
> 
> As a final note, I am not Deaf or HoH so if anything is mis-termed or unintentionally offensive in any way please let me know! I tried to tread lightly with this topic because it's not something I'm familiar with, yet is part of a theme (characters with post-game disabilities) I would really like to see explored more in the fandom.
> 
> Thanks in advance for reading!

Sam had once enjoyed the quiet. But when quietness was all that remained it became an oppressive, almost tangible force, one that that bore down upon her and kept her separated from the everyday noise of other people, of things, of the living world around her.

She hadn’t lost one-hundred percent of her hearing. At the beginning she’d thought that a blessing – a reminder that it could have been worse. But in many ways, she discovered, it _was_ worse. Constant dull murmurs kept her just aware that she was missing out on a piece of the world around her. There was no peaceful silence – just an inescapable feeling of being encased in glass while everyone else was free to interact with each other.

Unsure of how to handle Sam’s new disability on top of battling their own demons, the other kids largely avoided her. Only one person visited her on anything resembling a regular basis, and it was not at all someone she would have expected to possess the patience for dealing with someone who was newly hard of hearing.

**I’m at your front door**

Sam received the text as she was sitting on her bed, attempting to lose herself in a book. She dumped the book and hurried downstairs to answer the door. She found Emily waiting on the front steps with a neutral expression. Sam greeted her, hoping her words weren’t too loud or quiet. Emily nodded and gave her a small wave.

“Come in.” Sam stepped back, allowing Emily through the doorway.

Emily had latched on tightly to Sam after The Incident. Sam guessed it was because she was one of the only people in the group who hadn’t turned on Emily at some point over that horrible night. She vividly remembered the look Emily had given her as the group had made their way out of the safe room after the bite ordeal. Sam had tried her best to diffuse the situation and defend Emily against Mike and Ashley’s wild fears. Though Emily had never said anything to her about it, that look had said it all. Sam wondered if she’d unintentionally earned herself a spot in the Ice Queen’s royal court that night. After all, there were quite a few vacancies to fill.

They sat down on the couch in Sam’s living room. Emily pulled out her phone and began typing. Sam’s own phone buzzed a moment later.

**So what do they think**

Sam had had an appointment with a hearing specialist earlier that day. “It’s probably not coming back,” she said. “If it does it’ll only be a little bit. I’ll still be functionally Deaf.” She left out the fact that the specialist had mentioned a possibility of her hearing getting even worse as time wore on.

Emily’s small mouth curved into a frown. She started to say something, then caught herself. She tapped out another text instead.

**That sucks. I’m sorry, Sam.**

Sam shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

Her phone soon buzzed again.

**I’ve been wanting to ask you something.**

“What?” This time she sensed her response was too loud. Her face warmed with embarrassment.

**If this is permanent, would you consider learning ASL?**

It took Sam a second to realize Emily was talking about sign language. She knew nothing of it unfortunately, though she remembered it being offered in their high school as an alternative to Spanish and French. _Wish I hadn’t taken French now._ “I’ll probably have to. I mean, that’s kind of what you do when you can’t hear people, isn’t it?”

**I’m fluent. I learned it to talk to my grandmother.**

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Emily said something again. Quickly catching herself, she closed her mouth and went back to her phone.

**Jess knows some, too. We used to use it to talk about people who were within earshot.**

Sam looked up from her phone. Emily shrugged. “Of course you two would do that,” she murmured, hoping she was replicating the Mom Friend scolding tone she had always been fond of.

When Emily didn’t say anything else, Sam shifted her attention to the nearby front window. There were birds on her birdfeeder. They were fussing and fighting over the feeder’s small perches. Impulsively she rose from the couch and ventured over to the window to get a better look. Cautious not to frighten the little birds, she opened the window slowly and, she hoped, quietly. She strained to listen for their chirps, even dulled and watery as she may have been able to interpret them. She heard nothing.

“Are the birds singing?” she eventually turned and asked Emily.

Emily nodded.

They must have been within her frequency range that was most damaged. Sam tried to smile, pushing down the welling lump in her throat. “Oh. That’s nice. They’re back pretty early this year.”

Emily texted her again. **If you want to take a stab at ASL I can refer you to the private instructor I worked with.** **She’s one of the best.**

Emily and her tunnel vision. It was probably best that Sam had someone to push her, though. She felt overwhelmed at merely the thought of trying to learn a whole new language at almost twenty years old.

Sam came and sat back down beside her. “…Yeah. That would probably be good.”

* * *

Although her options for spending time with other people were much more limited now, learning sign language opened her world back up considerably. Her parents had attended the lessons with her, so she could communicate with them again. And Emily was sticking close by her, pushing Sam to practice and remember all of a sometimes overwhelming number of signs. In fact, she and Emily had become almost like a package deal these days – they clung to each other as if absolutely terrified of losing the other. Understandable, considering they were essentially cut off from the rest of the group, either by circumstance or by choice.

She’d never expected to grow close to the iciest member of her friend circle. But underneath the tough exoskeleton Sam was finding an Emily she never knew existed. A modest, funny, at times insecure girl with a soft spot for animals (especially cats) and a fierce loyalty Sam could only dream of possessing. It seemed once a person unlocked the secret Emily buried deep inside that cold outer shell, some sort of switch was flipped and Emily’s Dedicated Friend mode was activated. She’d never seen Emily act like that with anyone other than Jessica, back when the two of them had been best friends.

Sam’s world may have felt small, and more than a little scary at times, but having someone like Emily in her corner made it just a little more bearable. And in some regards she was beginning to find positives in her situation. One of them was discovering that she had a much easier time conveying complex and vulnerable emotions via signing than she’d ever felt comfortable vocalizing. It was easier to confront her own weaknesses when she didn’t have to hear herself admitting to them.

One morning when she and Emily had arranged to have breakfast together, Sam formed the sign sequence for _nightmares_.

Emily looked up from the vegan fruit and oatmeal Sam had prepared for the two of them. _Did you sleep much?_ she signed.

Sam shook her head.

 _I have nightmares too,_ Em continued. _Do you want to talk about yours?_

Sam shook her head again.

Emily took a bite of her oatmeal, not pushing the subject.

After a few minutes of wordless eating, Sam tapped her chin and extended her open hand out to Emily. The sign for _thank you_.

Emily returned the gesture. _You’re welcome._

Sam had been wanting to express a particular sign for several weeks now. She was nervous, but Emily had thus far been gentle with her. So she extended her index finger, pinky finger, and thumb, held her palm out to Emily, then moved her hand back and forth slightly.

Emily blinked. Sam noticed her cheeks flush just the slightest bit red.

_Really?_

Sam nodded.

With some hesitation, Emily reciprocated the gesture.

_Love you, too._

Sam smiled. She had always struggled with conveying emotions like love verbally. Making a gesture was vastly easier for her. She felt much less vulnerable.

Maybe her world wasn’t quite as closed off as she thought.

 

 


End file.
